Return from College
by infinityXisXme
Summary: Amu returns home for summer break after her first year college. She is reminiscing on her balcony when an unexpected visitor drops by. Amuto.


I'm pretty sure this is just going to be a one-shot but depending how it goes and how it is received, I could be persuaded into making a couple more chapters. Maybe. It might take a while though… I am terrible at posting chapters in a timely fashion.

A couple things before you start. Ikuto and Amu are closer in age in this fic. Instead of Amu being in 5th grade when Ikuto left, she was in 9th grade, and Ikuto had just graduated high school. So 3-4 years rather than 8+. I love the Amuto pairing, but it kinda freaks me out when I think about how young she is supposed to be.

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I let out a content sigh as I step back into my old room after a long, relaxing bath.

"It feels amazing to be back home." I say to no one in particular, grinning at my guardian characters as they zoom around the room. I change into a pair of sleeping shorts and a tank top and grab the bottle of milk on my desk as I head out to my balcony. The noise from the charas is muted as I slide the glass door shut behind me and the sounds of the summer night rise up to meet my ears. _I can't believe I'm already done with my first year of college. It feels like just yesterday that I moved here and started at Seiyo Academy. _My mind drifts to my memories. Meeting the guardians for the first time. The birth of each one of my charas. Training with Kukai. My crush on Tadase. _Its hard to believe we are all grown up already._ Keeping in contact with all of the guardians is harder now. Rima is the only one that goes to her college, but they all still live close. Tadase went into business. Nagi is at a prestigious arts school and is studying dance. Yaya and Kairi are still in high school. Kukai and Utau started to date and he is studying management. Utau just put out a new album and her fan base is bigger than ever. And Ikuto is still overseas in the traveling orchestra. _Ikuto…. I haven't heard from him since I started college. I wonder how he is. _I close my eyes and imagine he is somewhere far away, napping on a rooftop with Yoru dancing above him, begging him to play a game. A gentle puff of wind hits my face prompting me to open my eyes. I am greeted with the sight of two midnight blue eyes staring back at me. I blink as what I am seeing registers in my brain.

"….AHHHHH!" I yelp, jumping backwards. "I-ikuto. What the hell are you doing here?! And how did you know I was home?" I say once I recover a little.

He steps back to lean on the balcony's railing. "I always know where my strawberry is."

I cross my arms, ignoring his teasing, "So when did you back from traveling with the orchestra?"

His serious expression falters at my response and a small smile replaces it. "My my Amu, you really have grown up." He runs his hand through his hair and looks away from me.

"You didn't answer my question." I say deadpan, trying to brush off the possible meanings of his statement.

"I just got back in town today actually. Why did you miss me, Amu?" He steps forward with his hands in his pockets, leaning down to stare into my eyes.

I feel myself getting embarrassed, but instead of getting flustered like I used to, I laugh it off "Of course I missed you Ikuto, you've been gone for 4 years now. How long are you back for?"

He straightens, but doesn't step back. "I quit the orchestra, so I'm back for good." He says

This surprises me "Oh. Why'd you quit?" I ask, not wanting to directly ask about his father. Ikuto is a very private person and I didn't want to pry.

"I had seen all I wanted to see and did all I wanted to do and it was time to come home."

"What are you going to do now?"

"I'm not sure yet. Get my own place, maybe go to college, I have quite a bit of money saved up from the orchestra."

"Ah. Where are you staying now? With Utau and Kukai?" I know he wouldn't go back to his mother and stepfather's place.

"I'm not sure. I haven't talked to Utau since I've been back."

Only then do I realize that he only has his violin with him, "Where is your stuff then?"

"Oh it'll be here tomorrow. I shipped most of my stuff."

"Ikuto, where are you going to sleep tonight?" I ask, worried because it is already dark outside.

He shrugs "Not really sure. I was going to roam around the city for a while. Because of the time difference I'm not all that tired. Plus I slept on the plane."

"Well do you want to hang out here? I'm used to being up late at school and I'd love to catch up."

"Are you inviting me into your room without your parent's knowledge, Amu?"

"I'm an adult now thank you very much and my parents and Ami went up to my grandma's for the weekend, so its just me and the girls. Speaking of which), where is Yoru?"

"Yoru is saying hello to all his stray cat friends. He will be wandering back soon. Well if it is just us, what will stop you from going all perverted on me?" a Cheshire grin spreads across his face.

I sputter, "Me go perverted on you? I seem to remember it the other way around, Ikuto"

He has a thoughtful look on his face as he considers what I said. "I suppose you are right" he steps closer, "I never could resist teasing you, Amu" His face is now inches from my ear, like that first night on my balcony.

My face sours, "Looks like you still can't." I put my hand on his chest and push a little.

He sees my face and says "Oh no, Amu I'm not teasing anymore."

I don't understand what he means, but let it go. "Are you gonna come in or what?"

Instead of a response he walks past me and slides my glass door open. The chara's laughter that can now be heard, stops abruptly.

I look and they are all staring at Ikuto. Ikuto is staring back at them with a look of slight disbelief. It takes me a second to figure out why.

"Oh Ikuto, you never got to meet Wicca, have you? She hatched during my junior year of high school."

They exchange nods and the charas then assault him with questions. He calmly answers them and they eventually go back to talking amongst themselves. Ikuto turns to me, "You have five charas? Three was unheard of. Four was crazy, but now you have five?" he shakes his head "Wow"

"They are a handful. Wicca is a little different from the rest of my charas if you can't tell. She's calmer like Miki, knowledgeable like Dia, and darker like Il."

Ikuto's eyes were watching Wicca as he listened, nodding to let me know he still was.

"So do you have any good stories of your travels?" I ask, after sitting in silence for a minute or two. He looks and me and starts on a story about his time in a bar in Turkey.

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Okay so this has a good probability (almost positive) of becoming a multichip fic (okay 100% positive). I was just going to stuff it with fluff and leave but I am getting into this characters. Since they are older I can make their interactions more adult and that opens up so much more fluff for the future so yeah.. Watch for more chapters.

Also on the topic of Wicca. Apparently in a Shugo Chara video game, Amu has a fifth egg that has crosses on it and is a witch type chara. I had heard this rumor when I first started Shugo Chara and liked the idea of a darker chara for Amu. I couldn't find this chara's actual name but I thought Wicca was short and stuck with the short name theme of Amu's other charas and since she is a witch, Wicca seemed appropriate. Also from the one or two pictures of her she seems a little cutsie for what she represents, so think of her looking more like Il, egdier and darker.

Anyway thank you so much for reading I hoped you enjoyed!


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